This invention relates to coin mechanisms, and in particular to coin mechanisms for controlling the dispensing of products from vending machines.
Vending machines are prolific, being located in many places where people congregate such as stores, entertainment facilities, industrial work places, institutions of all types, side walks, gasoline stations, etc. The rest rooms in these facilities often include vending machines for dispensing a variety of products such as sanitary napkins. Despite the vast number of vending machines and the extensive use to which they are continuously put, they--or more specifically their coin mechanisms--suffer from some serious deficiencies. One such deficiency relates to the inability of many coin mechanisms to reject coins of the wrong denomination for purchasing a product in a vending machine. Many coin mechanisms which for example are intended to accept a quarter (a U.S. 25 cent coin) to trigger the dispensing of a product, will accept coins of another denomination, for example a dime (a U.S. 10 cent coin) without dispensing a product. Another deficiency of many known coin mechanisms for vending machines relates to their retention of deposited coins when a selected product is for some reason not dispensed from the machine, such as because of an obstruction in the dispensing path or an orientation of the product which precludes its release from the machine. A third shortcoming which is common to known vending machine coin mechanisms is the inherent complexity of such mechanism, creating a high potential for malfunction and further resulting in relatively high costs of manufacturing and assembling component parts, subassemblies and the final assembly of the coin mechanism. The loss of coins in vending machines frequently leads to frustration and anger of persons depositing coins, which frustration and anger is occasionally vented on the vending machine itself, resulting in the defacing or other damage to the machine. Such frustration may as well result in resentment towards the owner of the vending machine and towards the proprietor of the facility in which the machine is located.